Early history

The club was formed around 1980 by Eric Petrie and Pete Paulley, who had previously played for the Croydon Blue Jays. The first team played as the Croydon Borough Pirates and placed 3rd in the 1981 Southern England Baseball Association (Group B) division with a 5–11 record.

For the 1989 season, the team was renamed the Croydon Pirates, continuing to play in the 2nd Division which by this time featured twelve teams. They finished the season placed 4th with a 15–10 record, including a seven-inning, one-hitter in which pitcher Chris Gahan recorded 21 strikeouts against the Croydon Blue Jays.

In the 1990s, the Pirates continued to set unexpected records. In 1992, across 16 games, the team collectively notched 355 stolen bases with zero times caught stealing. Club founder Eric Petrie recorded the most, with 48.

National success

From 2004 the team's top players formed the P1 roster, which competed in the National Baseball League, the top flight of British baseball. The P1 team were National Champions in 2004, defeating the Windsor Bears 12–10 in the National Championship game, and again in 2005, beating the Brighton Buccaneers 2–0 in a best-of-three series.

After being runners-up to the Richmond Flames in 2006, their 2007 regular season record of 26 wins and 0 losses earned them the right to compete in the Final 4 tournament for the 4th consecutive year, on the weekend of 1–2 September 2007 along with the London Mets, Menwith Hill Patriots and Liverpool Trojans. Croydon and the Mets won their semi-finals to advance to the final, where the Pirates were defeated 2–0 in a best-of-3 series.

Developmental team

Around this time a second roster of developmental players was started, which competed at the single-A level. In 2005 they became Premier Division Champions, notably winning 9 of their last 10 games to claim the title.

In 2008, this P3 team again won their British Baseball single-A division, finishing the season with a record of 10 wins and 2 losses. They were promoted to the double-A division for the 2009 season.

2012–2017: The South London Pirates

In 2012 the club changed its name to the South London Pirates. South London Pirates I (formerly P1) played in the British NBL; while South London Pirates III (P3) played in the AA South Division. However, in 2017, falling player numbers halted the club from competing in either league.

2020 Croydon Pirates

2019 revival and current team

After two years without a team, the Pirates once again began playing under the Croydon name and hosted a series of friendlies in autumn 2019, before joining the AA South Division for the 2020 season, competing against the Guildford Mavericks, London Musketeers, Richmond Dragons, and South Coast Pirates.

The season, shortened due to COVID-19, saw the team competing in a series of double-headers throughout August, finishing 4th with a 3–4 record along with one rained-off game.

The 2021 season brought greater success, however, with the team posting a 21–9 season record and narrowly losing to the London Sidewinders 20–19 in the playoffs. They beat the Milton Keynes Bucks 13–10 to place 3rd overall.